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Need to Know
Need to Know is a second season episode of House which first aired on February 7, 2006. Recap A busy mother and businesswoman starts flailing just after starting her car and drives it through the garage. Meanwhile, House has, out of all character, come in early with a pressed shirt. Wilson deduces that House came on to Stacy while they were away on business. The team is discussing the patient, who is flailing her arms and twitching. The team suspects the auto accident was the cause, but the flailing clearly started before the accident. The patient is on fertility treatment and the team suspects that might be a cause too. House orders a thorough pregnancy test along with the other tests. They talk to the patient about the possible treatment and administer drugs to stop the flailing. Wilson confronts Stacy about House, and warns her not to hurt him again. However, Stacy doesn't know whether House is toying with her. The patient starts having spasms again after the treatment wears off and snaps at her daugher and her husband (her daughter's stepfather). Foreman believes the sudden anger shows Huntington's disease. However, at that point, the patient has a psychotic break and starts smashing up her room. The team manages to subdue her. The test for Huntington's is negative despite the symptoms, and the psychotic break rules out fertility medication as the cause. There is no family history of mental illness. House starts talking about her busy lifestyle and wonders if she is taking cocaine to cope. Foreman and Cameron go to her house to look for the drugs. House goes to see Wilson, who is preparing marijuana for a patient. They start talking about Stacy. Wilson says Stacy sounds confused, but he doesn't think she really is. House doesn't think she will leave Mark while he is in rehab. Wilson points out that she left House when he was in rehab. Foreman and Cameron start talking about her test for AIDS. They find Ritalin in the patient's car. However, the pills are the daughter's. House thinks it is the Ritalin and wants to discharge her. Foreman, who is still in charge, overrules House and keeps her in until they can confirm the Ritalin is causing her symptoms. House goes to see the patient and her daughter. The patient says that she never gave Ritalin to the daughter, but the bottle is nearly empty. The patient finally admits that she took the pills. House discharges her. House goes to see Stacy. Stacy says she's about to leave the hospital and that Mark is going back to work. House accuses her of running away from him. As the patient leaves the hospital, she collapses with a stroke. Cameron calls House, who is in bed naked with Stacy. The team is waiting around for House, and they suspect Stacy is the reason. House arrives in a very good mood and starts once again trying to determine the cause of the patient's symptoms. He tells them to take an ultrasound of the uterus. House goes to see Stacy again, and finds that she has been lying to Mark instead of telling him about their affair. She tells House she is willing to go ahead with an affair but she will not hurt Mark. House gives Stacy an ultimatum - him or Mark. The ultrasound shows no abnormality of the uterus. At that moment, Foreman's authority over House runs out, and House orders a biopsy. The daughter comes to see House while he is watching TV. House takes her back to the mom. They discuss her parent's relationship - the parents never fight. During the biopsy, the patient starts bleeding. Stacy goes to see Cuddy. Cuddy says House didn't change after she left him. Stacy admits to having a relationship with House. They discuss the previous break-up. The bleeding was coming from the liver, and indicated a tumor in the liver, which the team finds. A biopsy is impossible as the tumor is in one of the patient's veins. Mark comes to House worried that he's losing Stacy. He is actually looking for advice and admits he has shut her out. House doesn't want to help and tries to dodge Mark by going up stairs. Mark gets out of his wheelchair to crawl up to House, but again House brushes him off. House can't understand why the patient has a liver tumor - it doesn't explain her symptoms. They review the patient's personality. She is very non-confrontational and has trouble coping. House can't understand why a woman like that would want a second child. The Ritalin explains the psychosis. The stroke and blood clot is explained by the tumor. However, the flailing can only be explained by one thing - birth control pills. House confronts the patient - she is taking birth control pills to prevent herself from getting pregnant, and fertility medication to give her new husband a child. Luckily, the tumor is benign and will go away if she stops taking birth control pills. The patient goes ahead with the surgery and denies being on the pill. House confronts Cuddy about the appropriate course of action. Cuddy points out that House has no real proof she is taking birth control pills. They go ahead with the surgery. It removes the tumor. The patient asks Foreman to lie and say to her husband that the surgery means she can't be on the fertility treatments, but he refuses. He tells her that if she continues to be on birth control while on fertility treatments, it will eventually kill her. Cameron finally goes to get her AIDS test result. It is negative. House goes to see Stacy to break off their new relationship, even after Stacy offers to tell Mark she's willing to leave him. Stacy asks why he changed his mind. House realized that Mark was more willing to do things to keep Stacy, and that he can't make her happy. He is always doing things to alienate people, and knows he will simply drive Stacy away again. He simply can't bear the possibility of another breakup. Wilson finds House alone outside. Wilson agrees that Stacy is probably better off without House, but knows that House doesn't believe that, and believes that House merely wants to stay miserable. Wilson points out that although House doesn't like himself, but he does admire himself. He's afraid to change for that reason. Quotes Patient's daughter (after hearing that House is in pain because of his leg): Is that why you're so sad? House: Oh aren't you adorable. I'm not sad, I'm complicated. Chicks dig that. Wilson: Being miserable doesn't make you any better than anyone else House. It just makes you miserable. Pop Culture references *When House asks Foreman to allow the pregnancy test, he says: "What'll it be, Ms. Daisy?", which is likely a reference to the movie Driving Miss Daisy *When Cameron finds the Ritalin in Margo's car, she remarks "Mama's little helper", which is likely a reference to the Rolling Stones song Mother's Little Helper, even though the song is about Valium abuse Category:Episodes Category:Season 2